The Effect of Long‐Term: Opiate Antagonist Administration to Pubertal Boys

To test further the hypothesis that opiatergic pathways controlling gonadotropin production may be functional during early to mid adolescence, nine pubertal boys with bone ages ranging from 10 to 15 were given the long‐acting opiate antagonist, naltrexone, for up to 4 weeks. Urinary gonadotropin measurements were assessed before, during, and after drug administration. In three early to mid‐pubertal boys who received naltrexone for 3 to 4 weeks, LRH testing was also performed. No evidence of a stimulatory FSH or LH response to naltrexone was found in any of the patients evaluated. The data do not support the operation of an opiate‐mediated mechanism in the control of pubertal onset in man. 1987 American Society of Andrology